Eat Less Fish in the Future - Chapter 2

The graduation party ended in a clamor, and soon after, the new school season arrived.

Zheng Yimian packed her bags, refusing her parents’ offer to send her off.

“W University isn’t far from our home. You don’t need to send me, I can manage on my own.”

She arrived at W University just before 1 PM.

It was the hottest time of the day in this city.

She opened the door and left the air-conditioned taxi.

As the heat wave hit her, she almost melted like a piece of chocolate.

The nearly 40-degree temperature made even the asphalt road surface scorching. Not far away, someone was conducting an experiment to test the road’s temperature, cracking an egg onto it. The egg quickly cooked on the hot surface.

…

The egg-cracker with a buzz cut squatted next to W University’s eye-catching sign. He tugged at his hair, complaining irritably. “Why isn’t sister-in-law here yet?!”

Zheng Yimian instinctively glanced at him, and the next second, the egg-cracker saw her too.

The man was stunned for two seconds, then slapped his thigh, quickly scooped up the cooked egg and threw it in the trash. He took out his phone to make a call, and after speaking for a while, he raised his voice. “Who am I? I’m Zhao Yuan!”

Zheng Yimian watched as he hurriedly ran away.

She instinctively looked behind her.

No one was there.

Why did he run away in such a rush when the “sister-in-law” he mentioned hadn’t even arrived? Was it because she saw the embarrassing egg-frying scene?

She didn’t think much of it. Her right hand raised the umbrella, tilting it slightly forward to block the intense sunlight in front of her. Then she pulled her suitcase towards the school.

The wheels made a clunking sound as they rolled on the ground.

Today was the registration day for new students. As she walked further in, it became livelier.

Zhao Yuan ran at lightning speed to the registration area of the Art and Design College, panting as he announced. “She’s here, almost here. Are you ready?!”

The group welcoming new students was startled by him. “Why are you so flustered?”

“It’s a big deal,” Zhao Yuan pointed to someone looking into the distance. “It’s about my brother Yu’s life-changing event. If we don’t get excited now, he’ll be single forever. Should I be anxious or not?”

Someone laughed. “Liang Yu, single forever? Are you kidding me? Didn’t you just see how many girls were looking this way?”

“That’s different,” Zhao Yuan put his hands on his hips, glanced at Liang Yu, and lowered his voice, covering his mouth with the back of his hand. “So many people look at him, but have you seen him look at anyone? God, can you imagine? A former trouble-maker who drove away five homeroom teachers and never held back in a fight, actually has a secret crush on a sweet girl for three years? When I first found out, my legs went weak. I thought it was April Fool’s Day.”

Those listening to gossip always want more. They slapped the table and said, “Then what? Go on.”

“Then he told me he wanted to study hard to get into W University. I thought I had gone deaf,” Zhao Yuan continued enthusiastically, his face flushed. “Of course I asked him, I said: ‘Are you serious?'”

Everyone laughed. “What did he say after that?”

Zhao Yuan smiled. “He said if I interfered with his studies again, he’d throw me off the building.”

“That’s wild,” someone applauded. “I used to hear that Liang Yu never had a girlfriend. I thought he wasn’t interested in girls.”

“Oh, he’s interested,” Zhao Yuan saw a figure approaching in the distance and raised his chin. “But only interested in that one person.”

Zheng Yimian found the registration area and stopped. While waiting in line, she prepared her registration materials.

She didn’t notice that from the moment she appeared, there was a gaze firmly locked on her.

After signing her name on the registration form, Zheng Yimian glanced at her dormitory number and politely asked. “So my dorm is in that buil…”

Before she could finish her sentence, the student in charge of registration pointed to someone nearby and said, “Perfect timing. If you’re not sure about your dorm number, we have dedicated volunteers to escort you to your room.”

She initially wanted to refuse, as she roughly knew where the student apartments were. But after some thought, since she wasn’t entirely sure of the location, it would be more convenient to have someone guide her.

W University truly lived up to its reputation as a top institution, with even the volunteers being so thorough in their work.

She lowered her head and smiled. “Alright, thank you all.”

The person in front of her waved dismissively. “Don’t thank me, thank the person who’ll take you there. Right, Liang Yu?”

Hearing the familiar name, Zheng Yimian was stunned. She raised her head and looked to the side.

Today, he wasn’t wearing a uniform, just a black T-shirt.

Last time it was too dark, and she couldn’t see his features clearly. This time, she could see everything.

Liang Yu had extremely attractive eyes, with full inner double eyelids that widened slightly outwards, giving them an upward tilt.

His features were delicate, with prominent lip cupid’s bow, and a naturally beautiful jawline.

… No wonder she had heard some girls talking about a handsome guy at the Art College registration area when she arrived. So they were talking about him.

As Zheng Yimian was lost in thought, Liang Yu walked over in a few steps and reached out his hand to her.

Faint blue veins were visible on the back of his fair, large hand.

Then, Liang Yu leaned in and grasped the handle of her suitcase. His slightly magnetic voice fell near her ear.

“Let’s go.”

Zheng Yimian deliberately glanced at his arm.

If she remembered correctly, although he had maintained absolute advantage in that fight, there was still a small wound on his arm. It wasn’t deep, but blood had seeped out.

Sure enough, the wound had healed now.

Liang Yu pulled the suitcase and quickly walked into the blazing sunlight.

Zheng Yimian followed, and out of courtesy, raised her umbrella a bit higher to shelter him as well.

Because he was so tall, Zheng Yimian struggled a bit.

Perhaps seeing her walking on tiptoes while holding up the umbrella looked too comical, Liang Yu’s lips curled into a slight smile. He lowered his eyelids and said casually, “No need to cover me, just use it for yourself.”

Zheng Yimian was stubborn. “But that would be embarrassing…”

The next second, skin with a unique youthful texture and warmth brushed past her fingers. Liang Yu took the umbrella from her hand and raised it higher. “Then let me do it.”

Zheng Yimian steadied her feet and looked up at Liang Yu from that angle.

His gaze was casual, but the corners of his mouth always carried a hint of a smile. He had a mischievous air but wasn’t malicious. The combination of his carefree attitude and youthfulness made him appear clean-cut and unique.

She didn’t want to reminisce, but fate always forced her to. It happened at the graduation party, and now again at the start of college.

It seemed there was no escaping it.

Thinking of this, her memory was quite obliging. A certain tragicomic scene began to flash repeatedly before her eyes.

……

Seeing her staring at him lost in thought, Liang Yu’s eyebrows revealed a hint of pleasure. He seemed about to say something.

Zheng Yimian, fearing he might misunderstand, quickly said, “No, it’s just that you look familiar.”

After saying it, she realized it sounded wrong, like a cliché pick-up line…

Liang Yu paused, not expecting her to remember him. He turned his head and asked, “…You remember me?”

Zheng Yimian looked at his chest, trying to find a badge proving his identity, but there was no badge, only a W University volunteer tag.

She licked her lips and nodded again. “School… party… We’ve met before, right?”

Whenever she asked uncertainly, she would tilt her head slightly.

This little expression made her whole person come alive.

This was the first time they had been so close.

Close enough that he could even see her distinct eyelashes, strawberry-colored lips, and skin with a hint of pink in its whiteness.

And those large, lively downturned eyes, harmless when not smiling, as docile as a napping cat; when she smiled, her eye bags would puff up, her gaze flowing, cute and gentle, making it impossible to resist any of her requests.

Liang Yu felt he might be intoxicated.

He averted his gaze, cleared his throat lightly, and said, “Mm.”

So it was true.

Zheng Yimian thought.

Because of this person, she had been teased by her high school friend Sun Hong for three whole years, but she could never forget him no matter what.

However…she had heard from Sun Hong that Liang Yu hardly studied and had even achieved the feat of driving away five homeroom teachers. How did he manage to get into the nationally top-ranked W University?

She curved her eyes, showing her signature smile. “It’s quite a coincidence to meet an esteemed schoolmate here.”

Liang Yu controlled himself not to look at her too frequently, desperately searching for a building in front to distract himself.

Looking at the sign at the entrance, he tightened the umbrella in his hand. “Mm.”

Not a coincidence, I followed you here.

After filling out the application, I was afraid our choices might not match.

After leaving the school gate, walking a few hundred meters to the left and crossing a road, they reached W University’s student apartments.

Because there were too many students to fit in the school dorms, an additional apartment complex was added outside.

Liang Yu asked, pretending not to know. “Where are you staying?”

In fact, he had gone over all those details about her many times in the past few days and could recite them backwards. He was just looking for an opportunity to talk to her.

Zheng Yimian looked at her form. “Building 8, Room 450.”

At the foot of Building 8, Zheng Yimian went to the dorm management office to fill in her check-in information, while Liang Yu waited for her nearby.

After getting her key and water card, Zheng Yimian walked up to him and said, “Wait for me a moment.”

Liang Yu stood there waiting for her, watching as she ran into a nearby convenience store and bought two bottles of cold mineral water.

Her slender, fair fingers gripped one bottle of water as she handed it to him, smiling gratefully. “Thanks for your hard work.”

Liang Yu took it by the cap, and as he was lowering his head to twist it open, he noticed from the corner of his eye that her right hand was gripping the cap of her bottle, her fingers exerting force, but the cap wasn’t budging at all.

Zheng Yimian felt his gaze and became more embarrassed.

Because her high school best friend had always been strong, she almost never opened water bottles herself. Over time, she just couldn’t…

The next second, Liang Yu handed her his own water bottle and took hers.

Almost without any effort, his natural advantage came into play. With a “pop”, the bottle opened.

Zheng Yimian blushed a little, biting her lip as she thanked him again. “Thank you.”

Liang Yu lowered his head and chuckled, then said, “You don’t need to give me the water, but give me the bag on your back.”

Before Zheng Yimian, holding a bottle of water in each hand, could speak, he had already taken her backpack off.

He held her bag in one hand and her suitcase in the other, quickly heading up the stairs.

After a few steps, feeling that Zheng Yimian was still standing dazed in place, he turned back. “Still daydreaming?”

Zheng Yimian caught up, her fingers fidgeting with the bottle. “I thought boys weren’t allowed in girls’ dorms…”

Liang Yu explained. “It’s move-in day, so we’re allowed to help carry things in.”

Zheng Yimian made an understanding “Oh” sound. “Looks like you’ve helped a lot of people today.”

She racked her brains, but couldn’t figure out what could have possibly happened to turn the once arrogant and rebellious troublemaker into such a willing volunteer.

Even inspirational college entrance exam essays wouldn’t dare to write something like this…

She watched apprehensively as Liang Yu carried her things up to the fourth floor without a word of complaint, inwardly anxious that he might suddenly reveal his true nature and do something shocking.

As it turned out, she was overthinking.

Reaching the fourth floor, she was slightly out of breath, but Liang Yu’s expression remained unchanged.

The dorm room door was open, and he brought her suitcase and bag inside.

After Zheng Yimian thanked him repeatedly, she entered the room. Just as she was closing the door and exchanging a few words with her roommate, there was another knock.

Zheng Yimian asked. “Who is it?”

The voice outside the door was highly recognizable, with a slightly slow tone tinged with a nasal quality. It was the voice she had heard many times just moments ago.

Liang Yu said softly from outside the door. “It’s me.”